UK releases witness statements after spy case collapse amid fierce political blame and China tensions

The British government has published key national security documents revealing the scale of its concerns about Chinese espionage, following the dramatic collapse of a high-profile spying case involving two men accused of working for Beijing.

The release comes amid mounting political pressure after prosecutors abandoned the case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry last month, sparking accusations of a government “cover-up” and triggering a fierce blame game between Labour and the Conservatives.

Downing Street released three witness statements written by Matthew Collins, the Deputy National Security Adviser, on Wednesday night. The documents lay bare the government’s internal assessments of China’s growing espionage operations against the UK — while also revealing a continued desire to maintain economic ties with Beijing.

In his first statement, written in December 2023 under the Conservative government, Collins warned: “The Chinese Intelligence Services are highly capable and conduct large-scale espionage operations against the UK and other international partners to advance the Chinese state’s interest and harm the interests and security of the UK.”

His later statements, submitted in February and August 2025 after Labour came to power, expanded on those warnings. Collins described China as “an authoritarian state” presenting “the biggest state-based threat to the UK’s economic security”, while also stressing that Britain remained committed to a “positive economic relationship” with Beijing.

He noted: “China’s espionage operations threaten the UK’s economic prosperity and resilience, and the integrity of our democratic institutions,” citing examples such as a cyber-attack on the Electoral Commission between 2021 and 2023.

However, the balancing tone in the later documents — acknowledging both threats and trade ambitions — has ignited controversy over whether the government’s caution about publicly naming China as a “national security threat” contributed to the case’s collapse.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the charges after concluding it could not obtain evidence from the government explicitly classifying China as such a threat at the time of the alleged offences. Without that, prosecutors said, the charges could not stand under the Official Secrets Act.

Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve called the collapse “utterly mystifying”, insisting that Collins’ statements “left no doubt” that China was regarded as a national security threat, even if the phrase was never formally used.

The first statement, based on counter-terrorism intelligence, detailed claims that Berry had been recruited by the Chinese state and directed to exploit Cash’s parliamentary access through his work with the China Research Group — a forum of Conservative MPs studying Beijing’s global influence.

According to Collins, Berry had met a senior Chinese Communist Party official in 2022, with Cash joking in a message: “You’re in spy territory now.” Authorities claimed the pair shared information, including political updates about figures such as Tom Tugendhat and Jeremy Hunt, with a suspected Chinese agent known as “Alex”.

Both men denied the charges. In a statement after the documents’ release, Cash declared: “I am completely innocent. I have been placed in an impossible position — denied a public trial to prove my innocence, and now left to face a trial by media.”

Berry has not commented since the case was dropped.

The political fallout has been swift. During Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer announced that the witness statements would be made public after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused his government of hiding evidence. Labour has insisted the prosecution’s failure stemmed from decisions taken under the Conservatives, since the alleged offences took place before Labour entered office.

Conservatives, however, have demanded further transparency. A party spokesman said there were “still many unanswered questions about this scandal,” including the role of National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell.

The collapse of the case — and the release of these once-secret statements — has deepened scrutiny of how Britain handles state espionage prosecutions, particularly those involving China.

While the documents confirm the government’s longstanding awareness of Beijing’s activities, they also expose the uneasy balancing act at the heart of UK policy: confronting Chinese intelligence threats without wrecking the economic partnership both countries still rely on.